The interfaith allies of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) think the American people can’t handle the truth about the jihadist
motivation behind 9/11. They condescendingly infer that Americans are
so inclined towards anti-Muslim bigotry that the terms “Islamist” and “jihad” must not be heard at the 9/11 Museum.

The 9/11 Museum, opening May 21, includes a seven-minute video titled The Rise of Al-Qaeda
hosted by veteran news anchor Brian Williams. The tape refers to the
Al-Qaeda terrorists who carried out the 9/11 attacks as “Islamists” who
believed they were pursuing a jihad against the United States. These are two terms that American Islamists have tried to delete from the American lexicon or at least whitewash them to the point they become meaningless.

Islamists like CAIR draw other Muslims and non-Muslims to their side with the argument that these terms promote “Islamophobia,”
as if Americans are so uneducated and prejudiced that they’ll
automatically assume that all Muslims are Al-Qaeda sympathizers. Even if
that were true, the 9/11 Museum goes to great lengths to debunk
anti-Muslim stereotypes.

The museum spokesman said there are two exhibits that clearly show that Al-Qaeda is a “far fringe of Islam.” The New York Timesreports
that the Museum has photos of Muslims mourning after the attacks,
stories about Muslims who died in the attacks and testimony from Rep.
Keith Ellison, the first Muslim congressman in U.S. history.

The museum’s executives had Princeton
University Professor Bernard Haykel approve the script before making it a
part of the site. He stands by the decision to approve the film because
there is simply no honest way to explain the motivations of Al-Qaeda
without mentioning jihad.

“The critics who are going to say,
‘Let’s not talk about it as an Islamic or Islamist movement,’ could end
up not telling the story at all, or diluting it so much that you wonder
where Al-Qaeda comes from,” he told the Times.He’s right. CAIR and itsallies are essentially saying that Americans can’t handle the truth, so they shouldn’t know it.

The current leader of Al-Qaeda, Ayman
al-Zawahiri, used to lead a terrorist group named Egyptian Islamic Jihad
(that splintered from the Muslim Brotherhood) until it was absorbed
into Al-Qaeda.In Osama Bin Laden’s first television interview in 1997, he said, “We declared a jihad—a holy war—on the United States government because it is unjust and tyrannical.”

“The acme of this religion is jihad. The [Muslim] nation has had a strong conviction that there is no way to obtain faithful strength but by returning to jihad,” Bin Laden explained.About a month after the 9/11 attacks, Bin Laden gave an interview where he said, “This is a duty of all Muslims. The jihad
is a duty for everyone, not just for the Afghans.” His overall stated
reason is that “America is against the establishment of any Islamic
government.”

He continued:“…[W]e will continue our jihad. We will incite the [Muslim] nation for jihad
until we meet God and get his blessing. Any country that supports the
Jews can only blame itself…I tell Muslims to believe in the victory of
God and in jihad against the infidels of the world. The killing of Jews and Americans is one of the greatest duties.”

One of the chief reasons that CAIR is waging war against words like “jihad”
and “Islamist” is because the group doesn’t want its ideology to be
discussed and it certainly doesn’t want Americans to know that it and
Al-Qaeda share the same overall Islamist ideology. Their disagreements
are only about target selection, rhetoric and tactics.

The Justice Department says that CAIR
is an “entity” of the Muslim Brotherhood, the most powerful Islamist
movement in the world. CAIR was born out of a secret Brotherhood meeting
in 1993 in Philadelphia, which was attended by two CAIR founders
including its current Executive Director.

The speakers at the meeting discussed
forming a new group to influence the media and public opinion about
their Islamist cause. One speaker said, “Forming the public opinion or
coming up with a policy to influence …the way the Americans deal with
the Islamists, for instance. I believe that should be the goals of this
stage.”

CAIR co-founder Omar Ahmad agreed,
saying the “goal is becoming open to the media in the U.S. and the
Western society to ease the intensity of the campaign and to explain
the legality of the opposition led by the Islamists.”

And that’s exactly what CAIR is doing. The Interfaith Center of New York’s choice of allies shows it doesn’t understand jihad or the Islamist ideology, making it an attractive messenger for the media-savvy CAIR

The Interfaith Center of New York does not appear to realize who it is working with. On April 20, 2013, the New York chapter of CAIRhonored
the Interfaith Center of New York with its “Partners in Justice Award.”
It was accepted by Reverend Chloe Breyer, who is now a leading critic
of the 9/11 Museum.

CAIR-NY’s leadership has a history of extremism
including anti-American rhetoric, inflammatory sentiment towards law
enforcement, support for Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood and advocating
the destruction of Israel. The CAIR-NY official who gave Rev. Breyer
the award, Zead Ramadan, would not condemn Hamas in 2011 and has appeared on Iranian state television to make America sound like an oppressor of Muslims.

Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf of “Ground Zero Mosque” fame is a Vice Chairman of the Interfaith Center of New York. One of its listed "Friends and Partners" is a group by the name of the Mosque of the Islamic Brotherhood. The group denies
having any affiliation with the Muslim Brotherhood overseas or domestic
Muslim Brotherhood-linked groups, but admits that its official motto is
the exact same one as the Muslim Brotherhood:

“Allah
is our goal/The Prophet Muhammad ibn ‘Abdullah is our leader/The Qu’ran
is our Constitution/Jihad is our way/And death in the way of Allah is
our promised end.”Another article on the Mosque of the Islamic Brotherhood’s website discusses jihad—a term apparently they are allowed to say but the 9/11 Museum isn’t. It states that one of the forms of jihad is “physical jihad” that is “combat waged in defense of Muslims against oppression and transgression by the enemies of Allah…”

Another article
says the War on Terror is part of a covert conspiracy led by “closet
white supremacist, zenophobic, Satanically-inspired individuals [who]
advocate a proper, state-sponsored terrorism, in defense of the
‘American Dream,’ while other people are living the ‘American
nightmare.’”

The leading voices against the 9/11 Museum’s use of the words “Islamist” and “jihad” are Islamists themselves or their allies. CAIR Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper says
that “generations of visitors” will be taught by the 9/11 Museum. He’s
right, and that’s why the 9/11 Museum cannot sacrifice truth for
pro-Islamist political correctness.

Ryan Mauro is the ClarionProject.org’s
National Security Analyst, a fellow with the Clarion Project and is
frequently interviewed on top-tier TV stations as an expert on
counterterrorism and Islamic extremism.